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Chocomania: Easy to find, easier to eat

Oh my holy heck y’all, has it really been FIVE MONTHS since my last Chocomania post? Of course, it was Parisian chocolate, so that was a difficult act to follow…

Still, I have a couple of yummies to report on today and I think they’re worth the splurge for those of us who are being really careful with how we allocate our food calories. So brace yourselves, chocolate lovers, and try not to lick your computer screens.

Today’s featured chocolate is made by Ghirardelli. Those of you who’ve been reading for a while might remember that a couple years ago I took issue with Ghirardelli for adding high fructose corn syrup to some of their chocolates. I won’t eat that shit, no matter how good the chocolate in question might taste. So, for over a year, Ghirardelli was dead to me because I was pissed at them for adulterating gourmet chocolate with lab-produced offal.

What finally broke down my defenses was an email from my friend Heather last fall, who gleefully told me about a new Ghirardelli treat that I had to try, ethics be damned.

I started looking for the pumpkin spice crack chocolates here in my town, but with no luck. I griped about this hardship* repeatedly on Facebook, to the point that even my friends were on the look-out for the pumpkin spice carameth chocolates too, just so that they could get me to just shut up about them already.

(* Yes, I know, first world problems, yo.)

Finally, a friend finally found the goodies at le Tarzhay and emailed me the news posthaste and I hied myself posthastier to Target in order to procure some. Once there, I was faced with the dilemma of how many bags to buy. On the one hand, these were rare treats that would be available for a limited time only, so perhaps I should stockpile? On the other hand, I had recently been burned when I had listened to friends’ food suggestions and found myself in Starbucks trying to drink a gingerbread latte that smelled foul and tasted worse and then, just a couple weeks later, back in a Starbucks again choking on a peppermint mocha that tasted like coffee laced with chemicals, so would the pumpkin heroin caramels would be yet another culinary disappointment?

I bought one bag, paid, and left the store. In the car, my hands were shaking a bit as I opened the bag, reached in, and pulled out one chocolate. I took a bite. Savored. Another bite. More savoring.

And then I got out of the car and went back into the store and bought several more bags of pumpkin spice cocaine chocolates, took them home, and stashed them wayuphigh in the pantry so that I couldn’t access them easily. And after that I doled them out very carefully for the next couple of months until my supply was depleted. (Updated to add: There’s no pumpkin flavor in these — it’s pumpkin spices that are mixed into the caramel. Just trust me and go buy some.)

So if Ghirardelli comes out with these goodies again this year, go buy some.

(Unless, of course, if you live in my town, in which case I encourage you to avoid them like the plague. They’re nasty, so just stay away. I’ll buy all of the bags at Target and will dispose of the chocolates on your behalf so that you don’t have to.)

The pumpkin spice crank chocolates are milk chocolate and, I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to be disciplined around them. I don’t remember if I read the ingredients list carefully or if I was already addicted at first sight, but clearly the Ghirardelli folks have laced that particular treat with something that’s going to land us all in a 12 step program. So, proceed with caution.

The dark chocolate sea salt caramels, however, appear to be drug-free. It’s easy to eat just one and be done.

One big difference between the two is milk chocolate vs. dark chocolate — a little dark chocolate goes a long way, while a little milk chocolate leads to more and more and ultimately leads to elastic waste pants and a possible need for Weight Watchers meetings.

The great thing about both chocolates is that they’re individually wrapped. You don’t open the bag and get a huge waft of cocoa scent up in your nose, so it’s easier to resist temptation. The dark chocolate sea salt yummies are 210 calories for three squares, so you could do what I do and have only one square and you really haven’t fallen off the wagon too far. And, as we all know, occasional indulgences are important.

So that’s the latest chocolate report. I’d love to hear other people’s feedback, plus suggestions for other goodies we should all be trying.

Standard disclaimer: I’m not employed by Ghirardelli — although I wouldn’t mind some sort of sweet (heh) consulting gig — and I was not asked to review their products. Blah blah blah, legal mumbo jumbo, etc.

15 thoughts on “Chocomania: Easy to find, easier to eat”

I’m not a chocolate junkie, but I do like to buy Lindt for baking. A few weeks ago I passed by the local Lindt store where they were selling 3.5 ounce bars for $1.00 each!!!! You had to buy 20 for $20, but that was no problem for me. My only regret is that I bought a mere 16 bars (the kids bought the other 4).

Dark chocolate is the only way to go, and holy hell, dark chocolate with sea salt & almonds, I always have a bar of that crack on hand. I can’t even stand the thought of milk chocolate upsetting my delicate palate!

Oh, and just an FYI next time you find yourself in such a Ghiradelli predicament, drop me a line, I could walk to one of their warehouse stores, find ya anything you need!

Last night I licked the TV screen when I saw a commercial for Lindt truffles.

I have a weird chocoholic habit. I rarely go out and buy it, but if it is in my house I will binge until it is gone. When I did elderly care one of my clients found out I was going to San Francisco and handed me a $20 bill. He told me to go to the Ghiradelli factory store, buy a bag and don’t share it with anyone! I’m still not sold on the idea of pumpkin and chocolate together.

I’m so the opposite of you. I find the milk chocolate cloyingly sweet and can stick to just one. Hand me a bag of dark chocolate and I can make it disappear before you say boo. And I’ve had both of these (I prefer the dark chocolate one) and agree – most yummy.

I’m partial to the Chai’s at Starbucks. But I have now addicted my kids to their Vanilla Bean Frappaccino (it’s essentially a milk shake but with ice and milk and no ice cream which = less calories than a stop at DQ for a mini blizzard). This time of year I have them add the pumpkin spice to it. Christmas time I add peppermint. Mmmmm. Luckily Starbucks is 40 miles away so it’s not a daily temptation.

After emerging from my wake up with a migraine start to the day today, I read this post of yours post-haste, because, well, I do love me a chocolate post! But, in my lingering migraine fog, I was the first part of this post as if you were finding those pumpkin spice chocolates right now! And, I had mentally added to my errand list today, to drop by Target to pick up a bag of them! Shoot, they may even have them, now, as Halloween is right around the corner, so I’ll go anyway and see if they are there. I love that you went out to your car to try them, before loading up for more! Very smart. I may just do that myself! I found a particular Ghiridelli square very tasty, the dark chocolate mint one. I normally do not like mint much, in any form, but this one, frozen, is now an occasional treat. As I have written before, post-menopause has almost completely knocked out my desire for chocolate. and chocolate + salt. It’s sad, but I’ve pushed it, and tried eating the treats anyway, and I just don’t get that much of a thrill from it. I said goodbye to this lovely tradition, and welcome it back when I get a case of swilling hormones (like now, with the migraine and the return of the hot flashes) popping up—as I guess they are wont to do when you are in this stage of life (heavy sigh) I am eating a piece of chocolate cake as I type this, with my morning espresso con panna. The only GOOD thing about this happening is the decrease (heavy) in caloric intake. I guess.

Another chocolate I have to look for . . . . so much chocolate, so little time.

One of my favorite holiday treats is Ghirardelli’s “peppermint bark”. I don’t know if that’s what they call it, but it’s a layer of milk chocolate covered with a layer of white chocolate and tiny peppermint pieces (sold both as bars and bags of squares). I eat too much of it around Christmas, so it’s a good thing I haven’t seen it for sale at other times of the year.

Rob and I are both milk-chocolate people (preferably with nuts, which is difficult with a nut-allergic child) but Emma has recently discovered dark chocolate (took a while, since we don’t like it!). She can eat dark chocolate by the pound, however, so it doesn’t serve to automatically limit her chocolate intake.

Well, here in Northern CA, my Target did NOT have the pumpkin spice caramel squares. I stood there and looked and looked (like a lunatic, I”m sure) but they did not have them. I did find the sea salt caramel ones, though, and threw those in my basket. I will try one tomorrow! I wonder if these pumpkin spice ones will make an appearance this year? If not, ordering online may be the answer!

OK, now I need to go look for those dark chocolate sea salt caramels. Which reminds me that yesterday I was in Starbucks for the first time in a couple of weeks and noticed a promotion for a sea salt caramel mocha. I’ll probably end up trying both.